JOYCE'S RECENT BATTLE

"Hey, what's this?" Joyce barely got the nurse to not start an I.V. on her--what they usually do for patients just before hospitalization. She was at the hospital to get diagnosing of diverticulitis (she's had it before), not for hospitalization!

Joyce had wondered why this diverticulitis had to come at such a bad time. Last weekend was packed full of activities and responsibilities. I e-mailed my sister in the U.S. for emergency prayer. NO ONE can tell me God does not answer prayer. Her low-grade fever was yanked down such that all day Sunday it did not rise above 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit! I could hear Joyce's energetic piano accompaniment online as well as her introducing the missionaries picked up at the airport the day before...

Oh yes, I had to stay at home and watch church things online from bed myself. For some reason, Janice and I felt unwell instead! Is this called sympathetic vibrations? Joyce ran around doing everything necessary that day then got home about 9 p.m.

It should come as no surprise that her temperature went up again after that, and she spent most of Mon. in bed; Tues, she managed to get to a hospital--after sticking her with needles and running lots of tests on her, they agreed with her that she probably has diverticulitis, and barely let her go home.

Joycie spent time taking care of me after my nasty spill, got used to watching out for her elderly parents for years before that, probably forgot about the special needs she herself has since she has had hip replacement surgery. Your missionaries may be reaching eternal souls dealing with spiritual needs and fighting powers of darkness, so need your prayers most there; but please remember God uses vessels of clay to work here on earth, so they could use prayers for physical battles too.

"Fell": that word may not be so Irritating, after all

I looked at past posts and realized it's taking me a while to get through memory work. Will you put up with another entry about "fell" again? I think I'm sensitive to that word now, whenever I see it. Falls may seem to be interruptions, irritations. But some irritations can be coated over to form priceless treasures, can they not? Anyway...

"...and fell before the throne on their faces to worship God" (Rev. 7:11) 

Do I listen to God like that, or is it more like taking a stroll through nature and "feeling at one with all things;" lifting up my face to the sky and letting out a slow breath of utter contentment? We need to take care that we do not give obeisance to the Prince of the Power of the Air. He did promise to give "ALL THESE THINGS; just fall down and worship him". Jesus' response was: "Get thee hence, Satan. for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

Some angels fell worshiping before the throne of God; some refused, chose to follow the Prince of the Power of the Air so were cast out of Heaven and it sounds like they fell from the sky.

Hm; I said to myself; the first "fall" expressed worship; whereas the second "fall" was part of punishment.

. . . (I skipped over some of the journal entry. This one was rather long.)

So we lift our hands; we go down on our knees; we open up our hearts; we fall on our faces; and we realize we have been invited to approach the throne of God. Yes, we are on earth, but those of us in the Beloved are also in the heavenlies. Take off our shoes; this is holy ground. This is worship.

JUST TO BE IN THE SOUND OF HIS VOICE

Joyce and I did our deputation together at the very, very beginning. 1984? I remember several times, when being introduced from the pulpit, our names "Joyce and June" could be abbreviated as "Joan" or "June and Joyce" squished together as "Juice"! But at least those made sense.

Last week Tues, when my sister was coming home from Bangladesh, I made her a welcome back sign and couldn't decide whether to call her "Joyce" or "Joycie"...I just looked at what I made and realized I'd written "Joycice"! Who-what?!

But she knows I pulled that boner because I'd missed her so much--even if it was just one short week she was gone--and I was excited to see her again and got all mixed up. I really don't think she minded the misspelling at all.

When Jesus comes, I think He'd smile if I welcomed Him with a great big sign I'd written that read, "WELCUM BACK, JEEZUS!"

Matter of fact, I have a feeling God would feel happier if Christians who do things "right" would make it their aim just to be in the sound of His voice (Luke 10; last verse); and folks who say "OMG" and spell his Name right would get to know Him personally and misspell His Name instead.

SKINNY LEGS

About a week ago, I was pretty close to dismay. The first stage of injury had gone by: my swelling was gone now. But I looked at my legs and saw I'd been spending so much time just recovering from my fall, my muscles were atrophying.

I quickly e-mailed my sister and had her pray with me. You can say I'm getting better, I told her, but even if I do, if my muscle mass is gone, I won't be able to get back on my feet and live like before. I wanted to cry.

There was a painting showing skinny barefoot legs. God seemed to say to me, "No leg is too bony for me June; just give them to Me." The painting showed 12 pairs of legs. The disciples, I thought? And I was urged, "Just step out--even with that bony leg--and follow Me." I responded I would, and in 10 min., I sketched this drawing:

I sent that picture to my sister, and the next time I checked, I was ecstatic; there was muscle coming in my calves! Then I felt silly, knew EXACTLY how Rhoda and the believers must've felt when they prayed for St. Peter's release from prison. When he really was released by an angel and found himself knocking at their door, they didn't let him in right away, thinking it must be a ghost! DO WE REALLY PRAY EXPECTING GOD TO ANSWER?!

I think God's sense of humor is something else. Yesterday, Kinya accompanied me to the doctor's office to pick up my monthly medicine (Yes, we decided to walk, since it's close, and we could make it, instead of a long, direct walk, a photo...oh, that'll be another post.) I think God winked again in letting KINYA get tired and look for a bench to sit down on!

It was as if HE was saying, "I can give your legs all the strength you need, sweetie! You just pray...and believe expectantly, okay?"

RELEVANCE

This is a photo taken in Daddy's study. (Joyce had bought my parents the TV monitor pictured, and Janice gave me the Bible; you could say it's a family photo of sorts.)

The Word of God:

look at that ring - for marriage and home

that finger - for broken bones or ravaged hearts

the oriental calligraphy on drinking vessel - for any language

the computer screen - for modern technology still a proven treasure

almost forgot: "Giant Print" shows it's relevant even when sight weakens.

(The Kanji characters? Faith, Hope, Love!)

CHRISTIAN SWEARING？

Don't laugh. This was just the first impulse reaction I had one day, and I'm putting it up here, okay? I do that a lot. Some people think if you put stuff online, it outta be polished, really thought through...a lot of mine aren't. They're things I look at a decade later and want to go hide...I'm getting distracted. What was I saying?

Oh yes. When the apostle Paul was asked, if God is going to be gracious with us and forgive us, shouldn't we keep on sinning so we can keep showing others how merciful He is in forgiving us, he responded with a vehement, "GOD FORBID!" That expression is never translated--rather, translated so weakly, it almost made me mad.

I was trying to think of a Japanese equivalent, and as I said before, please don't laugh--for those of you who can read it, it seemed Paul had felt: 「え？そんなバカなことは、絶対ありえない。あってたまるもんか！」

"God forbid" seems to me the closest I can get to "Christian Swearing" in the negative sense, in the Bible. Except it's a lot more dignified and heavier, much more serious than the above, which can be said lightly, flipped off by someone in a state of inebriation and irresponsibility, completely forgotten when he is sober.

"God forbid" is more on the level of a temperate scribe. He never swears. But he's invoking the Name of God here, so you know he's got to be dealing with prohibition of a pretty serious nature.

A similar question is often asked in Christian circles today: "Shouldn't I be able to sin and offend you over and over, and you forgive me? After all, God does!"

Paul says: GOD FORBID. That is like saying, I can make Jesus a "whipping boy" on the Cross, and every time a brother sins against me, God pours out wrath against Him that I might forgive him. NO, A THOUSAND TIMES NO!!!!!!!

And if he could, I think Paul would've sworn. Or did he?

NOT JUST BOBBING UP AND DOWN

 I gotta make an addition to yesterday's post.

Some people speak of the way we were made in special ways for God to protect us...well, maybe. But that could be because that's the only way to protect others. Maybe we can't see that helpless little fishy who was being protected actually had to be protected because she was the one guarding her little ones!

Some people think a jellyfish just floats in the water, pretty much a useless, brainless bag of goo with no sense of purpose or direction. All it does is sting people every once in a while. But it's been documented--I found this online--a species of jellyfish has tentacles so toxic predator fish will not near it, yet baby fish are not affected so swim among them until they are large enough to fend for themselves and flee their larger opponents.

Were the toxic tentacles given the jellyfish for its protection? Maybe. But because of them, the baby fish found a safe childcare center too.  I guess nothing is not worth protecting, even something that looks as useless as a jellyfish.

Two-Headed Freak...I Mean Adorable Butterfly

"It's nice and cool out. Would you take a nice, slow walk with me?" I asked Kinya Sat. afternoon. "You know I can't go far, but I want to see how much I can walk." After all, if I do some walking around and get my legs strong enough, I might be able to walk to Mon.'s clinic appointment.

I was supposed to be keeping myself as limber as possible. Staying in bed all day could lead to muscle atrophy, blood clots, pneumonia, turning into a bump on a log...okay, the last doesn't count.

I had on the same jeans skirt, thongs, and glasses (minus one nose guard) as I did the morning of Oct. 12 when I had my fall, but instead of counting on calling on someone to help me, I decided not go out alone this time. Kinya was more than willing to jump up and come along.

On a small bush was a tiny red flower, and on its edge a small butterfly...you hardly even noticed it was there! But it was so adorable; I HAD to get its picture! Just as I was about to click the shutter, a bee came into the frame, making for a more interesting photo. But later, as I was editing, I noticed something about the butterfly!

It seemed to have another head on its rear wing, and two antennas there too. Huh?

And I realized that was nature's way of helping protect that little insect, so if a predator saw it flitting about, it would attack its bottom wing, not its actual vital parts: the head or even the body. And it could escape with the stronger top wings!

Perhaps sometimes, we may feel the way we've been wired are pretty "freaky", wish we could get over it. But we can know it's with a VERY SPECIFIC and LOVING INTENT we have been so designed; and we shouldn't want to "get over it". Maybe God needs us that way to fulfill a specific purpose, and we just don't know about it yet, just like that butterfly doesn't know about possible predator attacks.

It's a good thing that lil' butterfly isn't a human being; he'd probably have been complaining about those little wires and bulbs attached to that little black spot on his lower wings; those just do not make it easier to fly! Why do some of us have problems with overweight, singing on tune, PMS, stuttering, depression, childhood trauma...stuff normal people don't have to deal with; they just make life more difficult! They make us feel like freaks, out of place.

"I'll bet that butterfly has NO IDEA" I mused, looking at the feller on the flower, "someone out there thinks he's adorable!"

OKAY GOD; PLEASE DO YOUR THING

It WAS raining hard Tues, the day the group departed from Okinawa. The wedding is today in Bangladesh, and God is giving us a sunny 82.4 Fahrenheit day!

Thundershowers Tues, but Nice Today! Saaya and Aino, Two Ladies Signing "Peace"

If you've been following along, you know the wedding is featuring Saaya, one of our church's young ladies (upper left corner of pic); invited to a special evangelistic service by the present pastor; now commissioned by the Gushikawa Baptist Church in Okinawa--a church Daddy helped start--to reach the Bengali for Christ.

1984?

Many of you know the prevalent religion of Bangladesh is Islam. Most of the people there will not touch Christianity; coming out to relatives' and acquaintances' weddings is perhaps the only contact they will ever have with the Gospel. Rani and the believers have been praying earnestly for God's Spirit to work during the few hours of festivities--500 are expected to come--and Saaya and sisters in Christ in the church here worked to make pretty scripture bookmarks in Japanese and Bengali  writing for her to take and give out as memorials, a common wedding practice there.

One sows, another waters, but God gives the Increase. Daddy sowed, Saaya and Rani are watering--oh God, give us the increase!

--about "ASK FATHER"

Oh--is it okay to add onto the previous post? The expression "ask Father" at the end isn't just a playful toss of vague words into the air; every Christian should be doing that every day. I have a tendency of riding on the coattail of other's experiences, but I can't and must ASK FATHER to get satisfied with answers myself. What was it that Job said?

"I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee."  (Job 42:5)

RESIDUE OF BLOOD？

Why'd anybody be thinking of a laundromat at 4:30 a.m.? Well, I wasn't actually thinking of it, it's just one of the first places I walked past. I was coming home when I took my face-dive onto the asphalt, drawing blood.

This skirt, used to stop the bleeding, had its stain removed and then was cleaned at home, not at a laundromat; so I'm glad it's ok now.  The other day, I felt grainy residue from perhaps a missed stray. God seemed to be telling me He hadn't missed anything; for me to cast all thoughts on Him.

"EVERYTHING? Well ok;...I'm trying to follow You, Lord, " I asked from the heart (I know this has been asked by many people in the Bible too) "but these accidents, injuries, setbacks...I first tried to say they were merely loving chastisements to keep me in line, but..."

"But?"

"But is it really that? There are others who I think love and serve you who don't go through what I'm going through and have wonderful ministries...Father, am I doing something really wrong in an unalterable way and You're trying to get my attention? Can you not use me anymore?"

I remember when I was 15 and depressed and said to my mother, "I don't deserve to belong to the family." She didn't answer me for the longest time. I'd been staring at the floor, but she made me look up because I was dying to hear her answer me.

She answered then, "Maybe you don't. (What? I thot.) You say you don't deserve to belong to the family. But can any of us dare say we deserve to belong to the family of God?" And I remember how she pointed my eyes to the Cross that night.

Those who have had personal interaction with a Loving Heavenly Father know that often, His silent responses carry as great or even greater meaning and satisfaction than words ever could. Infinite Love cannot be expressed adequately by Finite Semantics, (an edge of its corner is displayed in the Bible).

All I can say is you'll never find a crazier, more contented 66-year-old daughter home with an injury anywhere in the world this century. If you ask her why, she'll tell you she can't really tell you but maybe you should ask her Father.

THEY TOOK OFF YESTERDAY, 11-11

"Let me know when it's 9a.m.," I'd asked my son, knowing my sister had to be at the home of our church's newest missionary by 9:30a.m. Joyce, Saaya, and her parents, would be taking off, luggage and all, for the airport then. They were finally leaving for Bangladesh.

I hurried down the stairs to get a photo of us before she left, glad my legs were doing much better--could walk one foot one step now--and I didn't need to hold onto the railing. But Joycie, you look so nice. You'd think you were going to a wedding or something! Oh yeah. That's what they were going to Bangladesh for. A wedding.

The group will be picking up a family in Tokyo and going onto the airport in Bangladesh, where Dr. and Mrs. Tomioka, Baptist Mid-Missions missionaries, arranged to have believers meet them. Apparently, they have another 5-hour drive from the Dhaka airport to the hospital compound in Natore.

There, Saaya's fiancé has a treat for all the ladies from Japan, Joyce was told. Her fiancé, Rana, bought saris for them to wear to the wedding. (Saaya apologized for what looked to her as rather drab choices!)

It reminds me of the Biblical account of the wedding feast with a garment provided for every attendee(Matt.22:11-12). I can't imagine anyone turning up his nose at such an offer, but I guess there really are such people today.

Joyce sez she'll leave her free sari behind to someone in Bangladesh who'll no doubt use it often, because she won't wear it here in Japan. I hear it's more of an unobtrusive brown color, not the rich, bright, tints associated with Eastern adornment. But maybe Joyce would look better in a sari of lavender, blossom, or teal, with gold accents...

They have one day to practice, and the wedding is on Fri. the 14th.  Saaya, Rana, and of course, all the believers are praying much for the Gospel's clear presentation and working during this time as many Bengali will have NOTHING to do with Christianity otherwise. Let us pray with them!

I gave Joycie a hug and bon voyage. She's due back next Tues.

MOUNT OF OBEY

"Mount of OBEY?" never heard of that, I thought as I looked in my journal. Every few pages had photographs from the Holy Land along with devotional thoughts.

My Heavenly Father has been teaching me much about obedience--it's been on the forefront of my mind--but I've never heard of a geographical location in Palestine by that name. Something like "Mount of Obeisance?" "Mount Heed, Hark, or Hearken", or a translation of a similar word...?

Then I laughed at myself. I just hadn't looked close enough. It was just the way it was written. Yup, you guessed it. Mount of Olives. I'd seen the word "Obey" merely because that's what God was dealing with at that time.

It was on another mountainside, in Galilee, in the Sermon on the Mount (as stated in Matt. 5-7), Jesus clearly emphasized to those who followed God with all their hearts: it is utterly impossible for humans to OBEY God completely from the heart, to fulfill the instructions of the "blessed are..." of the beatitudes; to truly love enemies and pray blessings for persecutors; to go overboard in seeking the welfare of antagonists, etc. 

Doesn't it say somewhere in the Bible, "without faith it is impossible to please Him"? I can give my best for God...but that's what Cain did with his offering, didn't he, and he was rejected. I need to let myself be broken, humbled; when I finally find myself flat on my back and saying "I just can't do it," God can begin His work. My business then is to LOVE Him with all my being JESUS who can and DID OBEY his Father to the utmost to pardon me who can't. He drank the Father's wrath for my disobedience, so I never have to be rejected.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, there is this little voice saying I've heard of a Mt. Hood. Maybe there is a Mt. Heed in Palestine? June! Stop that! See why I'll never be able to love the Lord Jesus as I should? I'm supposed to be focusing on Him, but I'm thinking these asinine thoughts... Next thought, and another post: I Ki. 8:58. (I know, I know; people will say that's not good literary technique to talk about a future post instead of concentrating on the present one. Rats; I just missed the Writer of the Year award by that slipup. J)

LOTTIE!

Sonah wasn't the only one who called me "June Oshiro".

My sister Janice, who lives in Minnesota, located Lottie Quisenberry (her maiden name), who lives out in California; another MK (missionary kid) from our growing-up days in Okinawa. Apparently, Lottie and her sister Ruth had both gotten married and served as missionaries in Brazil, altho' some of their children, it seems, have found their way back to Okinawa. Janice found her on a social media site, and Lottie responded by sending several photographs of the old Light of the World camp.

God knew that was just the thing I needed. Getting back in touch with Lottie, I excitedly told her about how it was Mrs. Styles, one of the old-timer missionary wives who held a children's Bible Club at which I dedicated my life to God when I was 7, knowing full well what it meant to give myself wholly to Him; and how it was there at the Light of the World camp I rededicated my life to God to serve Him however He wanted, even back here in Okinawa if he called me back.

The past few weeks, after getting banged up because of my fall, I'd been so inactive, pretty much sitting on my bed, feeling like a stump on a log--it wasn't that important that I get better anymore; I was all washed up now, I felt. But these two contacts did much to change how I felt. Sab and Sonah with memories from college and early missionary life in the 1980's; and now Lottie, with memories from years even before that!

Mere secular professions may consider seniors "less able" for work, but when it comes to servants of God...look at Moses who BEGAN his work of leading the children of Israel out of Egypt when he was 80 years of age! I need to remember I haven't decided to start just any old career, but God has called me to serve Him...which means I ain't "washed up" until I get "washed up" on Glory's Shores!

Thank you, Lottie. Lottie is a bit older than we three J's (Joyce, June, Janice). It's just that we remembered all the other MK's on island. And Lottie was so talented, singing with her guitar--I wanted to be able to play just like her, and I remember I imitated it. She was once my counselor and told me God would use me someday. That stayed with me a long time, but I think God has used Lottie for me.

HER NAME WAS KIM

"Guess who I got a call from?! Sab!" Sab and Sonah were on the island and wanted to know if they could meet.

Sab (Saburo) Matsumoto also received training at the same school we went to in the U.S. His wife, Sonah (Kim, her maiden name), a Korean American,  came to Japan in 1986 as a short-termer and lived with me. That was the year Kinya and I got engaged.

I rushed back to Daddy's study. In one of his desk cubbyholes, he'd kept a photograph of Sab's family years ago. They probably didn't know it, but Daddy held them dear to his heart and had been praying for them quite often.

Would it be encouraging to them to know he thought of them whenever he looked up from his work? I wanted them to see this!

"And June," I seemed to hear, "I sent Sab and Sonah so you would look up and be encouraged to know I think of you."

MUSING AT THE LIGHT

 "Joycie, it couldn't be!" When my sister slowed down at the light, I thought I saw some splattered blood on the lower rail of the bridge. But my accident was almost two weeks ago, and that was bright red! I looked again. No wonder. They were just flowers. Pretty little wildflowers that have probably always been blooming there; only my mind was programmed to see blood, so my eye noticed them.

When I was in high school, I remember my mother showed me a plant called "Crown of Thorns", its name coming from the belief that this plant's stems formed the crown of thorns worn by Jesus at his crucifixion. Their flowers are red reminding us of Jesus' blood too, I suppose. But they can also be orange, yellow, pink, or white. 

Red and yellow, black, and white/ They are precious in his sight/ Jesus bled for all the children of the world, I mused, altering the familiar lyrics a bit.

White, like the egret just on the other side of the flowers! Maybe I can get a closeup...

But the light had changed. Bye--see you later, Mr. Egret!

CHANGE MY WANTER

"But it looks like the foot of a skeleton!" I was surprised to find myself happy to see the bones in my foot. Before, I would've called it ugly. But for the past few weeks, those bones had been covered over with a lot of protective swelling tissue, so the skin had been smooth and taut. I could tell it was much better. I mean, I could even see the shape of the bones now!

I didn't want to see it before, but it means something completely different now so I do. Can't God do that for my heart when I feel completely powerless to change?